Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 11, 2009 6:26 am Hi The builders has suggested I get stuck into the retaining right after the slab is done (sometime between now and Jan 4th). Bit sooner than I expected but nonetheless .... Anyhow Looking for the cheapest startup option that I can spend money on and make pretty later Dimensions 18.5 x 800mm max (side) 18m x 600-800mm max (rear) My Dad and I can do it ourselves no problem. What options do I have? * Plain Concrete sleepers - Paint or render later? * Besser Blocks - Render later * Sandstone Concrete sleepers - so no additional work later * Dry Walling? Now I'm assuming dry walling at the side boundary is not an option, neighbor or 800mm away For the rear we actually have a 1.5m drop, reducing to 865mm. My plan was to come forward about 500-750mm from the rear boundary and pop a 600-800mm high Retaining wall there and backfill behind it. I can then leave the other 700-900m to the top as is (Natural ground) for the fence and pretty it up later. Does that make sense? Did when I wrote it My last questions is, when do you have to actually do retaining? i.e. what determines whether retaining is actually needed? Hang on, one more question Who is responsible for retaining? What determines it Thanks for even getting this far? In SA Re: Retaining Options 2Dec 11, 2009 8:08 am Hi Wombat. I can't help much but I have done a couple and I was wondering first up, is your wall part of the building reg's or ? If not then I spose the builders just suggesting the most practical time to do it but really it could wait if you rathered. At anyrate , one I did was just in dry rock form , no mortar between the rocks holding them together just layered as if bricklaying but angled in so that they support each other.and wall. Wouldn't go with that style , even though we built it following all the tips and tricks , every time it rained soil and dirt would wash through . Heaps of spiders and stuff also started nesting in the rock gaps. Mind you it was my first one, I might have stuffed up. Anyway I took it down a yr later and rebuilt it using mortar. I saw a method the other night on one of the home shows, big rocks , mulch and plants , costs you almost nothing if you can find the rocks , holds it together and works very well , looks great. Thats a personal fav' but you do need atleast some slope to support things while plants grow, mulch and rocks settle in . Good luck Re: Retaining Options 3Dec 11, 2009 12:44 pm Hi Wombat, I have been told my retaining walls need to be done prior to slab !! so i guess it just varies? I have opted with the plain concrete sleepers, from all the pricing i received they seemed to be the best option. Re: Retaining Options 4Dec 15, 2009 7:50 pm Ingle Farm Hi Wombat, I have been told my retaining walls need to be done prior to slab !! so i guess it just varies? I have opted with the plain concrete sleepers, from all the pricing i received they seemed to be the best option. Hi Ingle Farm, Mind me asking where you got your sleepes from and what price you paid? Thanks Re: Retaining Options 5Dec 15, 2009 8:18 pm Hey Wombat, We had to have our retaining wall up before they would do the slab. You have to be careful with the linkwall bessa block stuff to make sure it will retain what it needs to. Because our wall needed to be so high 1mtr and 'hold' the slab back as it where we had to use concrete sleepers. And your right, after watching the retaining wall guy it looks pretty easy. Did some holes for the posts, make sure they all line up and then slide the sleepers in. We use plain concrete sleepers from Outback Sleepers, and had it coloured 'charcoal' for no extra cost. If you can you should visit Outback Sleepers up in Lonsdale, they have a pamphlet on how to make a retaining wall. Just remember your support posts have to go as far down as they do up. Re: Retaining Options 7Dec 15, 2009 9:04 pm umm we paid a retaining wall company. But you can call Outback sleepers for a pricehttp://www.outbacksleepers.com.au/index.htm ok I have a pricelist here. give me a minute to scan it Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 14371 I ran into trouble finding a lock that would fit my particular door, like your situation with your pivot door. I wanted a safe lock that couldn't be messed with easily. 4 25705 Standard uninsulated double brick has an R value of around 0.7. An insulated standard 90mm stud timber frame can have an R value of around 2.7. Even if you insulate a… 17 10156 |